Intuition
by POPpop
Summary: Meredith is caught in a terrifying situation. Will her friends be there to save her?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I do not own any part of Grey's Anatomy unfortunately. Only the characters I made up are mine.

Meredith didn't really know where she was going that night. She just knew that she needed to get away. It had been a week since she had run out of the hospital, leaving both Derek and Finn at the makeshift prom. A week since George had made his startling apology. A week since Burke had had the scare that he might never be a surgeon again. A week since Denny had died.

She didn't know what to do anymore. The next day she saw Derek and Addison together, and he had looked straight at her, and then he gave his wife a kiss and turned away. Finn hadn't called. George told her that after she left he had stormed out, throwing down the corsage she had given him.

George and Callie were at her place that night. Meredith still didn't know where that was. It was still a mystery to them, as most of Callie was. They had come to accept it, though, that she mad George happy and therefore she was their friend.

Izzie was still heartbroken over the loss of her fiancé. For the first three days she had just stayed in bed – refusing to eat or go to work. Then Alex had come and practically dragged her out of bed. He was helping her heal and she needed him. They were working things out.

And Meredith had no one. No one was there to give her what she needed. George had tried for the first couple of days to be with her, but in the end she had shooed back to Callie. The last thing she wanted was for him to be in any more trouble because of her.

She chose that particular bar that night because she was sure that she wouldn't run into anyone she knew there. She knew it was stupid to go there, to go to that particular part of town at that time of night, but she didn't think. She knew she was supposed to be celibate and that she couldn't afford to go to random bars and drink, but she didn't think. She knew that it was even more idiotic to go and not tell anyone where she was going, but she didn't want them to be ashamed of her. She just didn't think.

He spotted her the minute she walked into the crowded, smoky bar. It had always been one of his talents – seeking out the vulnerable ones like a snake to a mouse. There was something decidedly snake like about him – his small, mean eyes, his lean, muscular body, his slithering voice.

He watched from the corner as she approached the counter. Within seconds the greasy, cigar-smoking bartender was at her side. She politely waved away the smoke and asked for a beer.

"Coming right up," he leered.

Time to make his move, Snakeman thought, before this idiot scared her away.

He uncoiled his long body from his chair and sidled up to the chair beside her. Settling himself down he waited until she glanced at him and gave her a wink and a smile. She shot him "Don't go there" look and turned her body slightly away. He frowned. Maybe this would be harder than he thought.

"Well hello there," His oily voice made Meredith want to wash her ear. She shuddered and ignored him, thanking the bartender who set the drink in front of her. She pulled out her purse to pay him, but Snakeman beat her to it.

"Let me handle that, " he said, waving a twenty in front of her nose while at the same time leaning in closer to her.

"No thank you," she said stiffly.

"Come on baby," he coaxed, "Just let me pay for your drink." He gave her arm a slight squeeze.

"I said No!" With a sudden jerk that almost sent her sprawling she detached herself from him. Steadying herself, she stood up, breathing hard. The reality of where she was and the knowledge of what this awful man wanted from her made her feel suddenly terrified. She just wanted out of there. Throwing a bill at the bartender she strode out, laving her drink untouched.

Snakeman sat there for a couple minutes fuming. The bitch had dared to reject him. Then his narrowed eyes glinted dangerously as he slowly stood up. He smiled evilly, feeling the cold metal of the lead pipe he carried in his boot. She would pay, he thought and followed her out.

_AN: Dun dun duuuun. What happens to Meredith? Review and you'll find out!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: Thanks for the great reviews! I love you all too!_

_I don't own any part of Grey's Anatomy._

George sat bolt upright. Sweat dripped down his nose and his eyes darted frantically around the room, before closing as he struggled to remember what had terrified him. Callie yawned and sat up, her eyes half-closed.

"What's wrong baby?" she asked sleepily.

"Be quiet." he snapped. Her eyes widened and she stared at him.

"What? Why…"

"I mean it Callie. Hold on." George squinched his eyes even tighter as he searched his mind for the images. What had it been about?

But instead of images came the memory of a sound. _Screaming. _But whose? Then he remembered the smell. It was as if he could smell it right there. But no, Callie used a raspberry scented spray. He could smell lavender…

Throwing off the covers George leapt out of the bed he and Callie shared. His girlfriend watched, bewildered, as he searched in the dark of the hospital room for his pants. Finding them he reached into the pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He pressed three and waited.

The phone rang and rang again. _Come on, _George thought, _Pick up, pick up! _Finally it connected and Izzie's annoyed voice came on.

"What the hell is the matter with you George?" she asked in a quiet deadly tone. "It is a 3:00 in the morning."

"Izzie," he said urgently. "Is Meredith there?"

"You called_ Meredith?_" Callie asked, her dark eyes snapping. George ignored her.

"I think so, why?" She sounded impatient.

"Could you check for me please?" he asked, "Just please do it for me."

"Fine, but you owe me a mocha latte tomorrow," she grumbled, furious. She wasn't the only one.

By now Callie's mouth was hanging open and her hands were balled into fists. Why was her boyfriend calling his ex-lover at 3:00 a.m.?

Izzie knocked on Meredith's door and when she didn't answer she turned the knob and pushed it open. The bed was made and there was no sign of her friend. Frowning Izzie put the phone back up to her ear.

"George? She's not here?"

He felt his heart plummet.

"Izzie," he said quietly. His voice seemed on the edge of panic. "Call Alex and Cristina and tell them that I think something's happened to Meredith. Just ask them if they know where she was going tonight. If they don't know anything…call Dr. Shepherd and ask him too. I'm going to go look for her. Just trust me Izzie."

He switched off and turned around to see Callie standing before him, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

"What the hell are you doing George?" she asked furiously. She sounded almost in tears.

"Callie you've just got to trust me," he pleaded, "I think…"

"No!" she cried, "No! You can't just call _her _at 3:00 in the morning and just tell me to

trust you" George." She turned her back to him.

"Callie!" George said, grabbing her shoulders and forcing her around to look at him,

"When I was eight years old I had a dream that my aunt had died. The next day they called to say she had been murdered in an accidental drive-by shooting. When I was 15 I swear I knew about my cousin's car crash before it happened. Last week I had a feeling, only minutes before they say Denny died, that something was wrong. _Callie I think something happened to Meredith. _Please trust me!"

She studied his eyes for a moment before dropping her gaze and nodding her head slowly. "But I'm coming with you."

Five minutes later they pealed out of the hospital parking lot.

"So where are we going?" Callie asked him.

"I don't know," he said truthfully. "I'm following my gut right now."

He felt himself being pulled to the bad side of town, despite the fact that it seemed to be the last place Meredith would ever go. He drove slower and scanned the streets and sidewalk for…for what?

Suddenly George began to doubt. He even felt a little bit silly. Why would Meredith be out here? Perhaps it was just working too many hours at the hospital was finally getting to him. Or maybe he was just still shaken by last week's shooting scare. He had just made up his mind to turn back when he heard Callie gasp. He spun around and what he saw made his heart stop.

"_Allison's wearing my shoes." The rape victim was wearing her shoes._

A tall, dark figure with a long, lethal looking object in his hand was crouched over a smaller heap on the ground. A heap that wore leopard-spotted shoes…

_AN: Heh, heh, heh, what's going to happen to dear old Meh? Review and find out!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note: Here you go! Enjoy and please don't forget to review._

_Disclaimer: Don't got 'em._

The figure stood stock still for a moment, like a deer caught in George's headlights. Then he turned and took off down the street. Grabbing the first thing that came to hand, an old tire jack, George leapt out of the car and ran after him.

"George!" Callie screamed, getting out of the car, "George, come back! Let him go!" She stared helplessly after him, straining her eyes to see where he had gone and wringing her hands.

"George!" she yelled again. Suddenly the heap groaned. Callie rushed over to Meredith, afraid of what she might find. To her relief it didn't look like she had been hurt too badly. Her clothes were still on, she didn't appear to have been raped, and the only visible wound was a gash on her forehead, rather large, but not too deep, that seemed to have caused her unconsciousness.

With shaking hand she drew her cell from her pocket and called 911.

"Hello?" she said tremulously, "My friend was just attacked and my boyfriend took off after the attacker. Please come help us!"

"Someone will be along in about ten minutes," the dispatcher told her, "Just hold tight and if the attacker comes near you fight him off with whatever you have. Is your friend badly hurt?"

"I don't think so, but she's going to need to go to the hospital. I'm a doctor, I'll try and stop the bleeding."

"Don't worry help will be there soon." And with that she hung up.

Callie said a quick prayer and squinted again, trying desperately to see if George or anyone else was coming. Suddenly a car pulled up and Izzie, Alex, and Cristina, all clad in some form of pajamas hopped out.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in amazement.

"Alex has some kind of GPS thing on his cell and he located George's phone," Izzie said breathlessly, "Oh my god, oh my god, is that Meredith? Is she…" Izzie stopped, the prospect to horrible to say aloud.

"No, just knocked out, " Callie reassured her.

"Where's George?" Alex asked.

"I don't know!" Callie said, beginning to cry. "He ran off after the guy who almost killed Meredith and I don't know what happened to him!" She sobbed and curled up, rocking back and forth. Izzie ran to her and put her arm around the shaking girl.

"Which way did he go?" Cristina yelled. Wordlessly Callie pointed and Alex and Cristina took off.

For once Cristina didn't even care that Alex was beating her. All that mattered was that they get to George in time. _Please don't let it be too late, _she thought.

Suddenly from up ahead Alex gave a yell. Cristina sped up and when she got to him he was crouched over one of two figures that lay in the street. Looking into the face of one she saw the snakelike features of a stranger. Lying loosely in one hand was a slightly dented metal pipe.

George's eyes were closed and his breathing shallow and interrupted. Alex shook him and slapped his face. He coughed and his eyes opened halfway.

"Thank god," Cristina breathed and knelt down beside Alex.

"Oh good, you're here, " George murmured, and then his eyes fluttered shut again; however his features were calm and his breathing normal again. As Alex gently lowered him back to the ground, he and Cristina heard the sirens wail.

When Meredith woke up she didn't remember what had happened right away. Then it all came flooding back to her: the screaming, the running, the man. Her eyes flew open and she sat up with a cry. The room swam.

"Finally!" A cheery voice rang through like a foghorn and Meredith felt her head split in two. She winced.

"Oops, sorry about that," the voice said apologetically, "I forgot you've got a pretty nasty bump there."

"Izzie?"

The blond grinned. "Good to see ya Mer."

"Where am I?"

"The hospital. You gave us quite a scare last night. It's a good thing George and Callie got there when they did. Paramedics said that bastard whacked you pretty a good a couple a times. How do you feel?"

"George?" Meredith said, suddenly remembering something. "I had a dream about him last night."

Izzie laughed delightedly. "Are you serious? That is so weird! George said it was because of a dream that he knew something had happened to you last night. You two have some kind of cool telepathy thing goin' on there."

Meredith winced again as another wave of pain rocked her head. She wished Izzie wouldn't speak so loud.

"Where are the others?" she asked.

"With George I guess," Izzie shrugged, "You know I've got to hand it to the guy. he took a couple of whacks himself before he managed to take out our slimy little friend over in Room 104."

"You mean that man is here?" Meredith asked shrilly.

"Yep," Izzie gave a satisfactory grin, "Soon as they were done treating him the cops put him in handcuffs." Her expression turned somber. "you know he was responsible for the rapes and deaths of four other girls. You really got lucky."

Suddenly the door opened and Cristina, Alex and Callie stepped in. Seeing that Meredith was awake Cristina and Callie ran to her bedside.

"How're you doing?"

"You okay?"

Meredith smiled and asked, "How's George?"

"He's fine. Dude's got a head like a friggin rock," Alex said, sounding a little impressed, "He put a dent in that sicko's pipe."

Meredith laughed and then said seriously, "I don't know how to thank you guys enough."

"I've got some ideas," Cristina said. They laughed.

Suddenly the door burst open and Derek rushed in. Seeing Meredith in the bed he ran to her side and grasped her hand.

"Mer? I just got in and they said you had been in some kind of accident. Are you okay?"

Behind him all four friends were thinking the same thing. Derek had already messed with her too much. if she gave in to him now it would just start all over again. _Be strong Mer, be strong._

Meredith looked at Derek, looked him straight in the eye and for the first time in almost a year her gaze was unwavering, unflinching and free.

"I'm fine," she said coolly, "You know, I'm really fine."

And Derek looked back at her, searched her eyes for what was no longer there. Then he dropped his gaze and sighed. Behind him the four friends breathed sighs of relief. Then Derek met her eyes again and gave a small smile.

"Well I'm glad your okay," he said softly and gave her a small kiss on the forehead. She let him and then dropped his hand. He sighed again and left.

And watching him go she really was fine. Because she knew that she didn't need him or Finn or any other man right now. She had her friends. And now she knew exactly how much that was worth.

AN: sorry to all you MerDers out there, but I just didn't see this ending with her taking him back. Besides I think he's a jerk. Anyway what'd you think?


End file.
